Until Tomorrow
by He's-Her-Lobster41319
Summary: Post ep for 6x23 because I was having feelings. I decided to go ahead and make this my ficathon entry for the 2014 Castle ficathon. Cover Art by the fabulous Dtrekker.
1. Chapter 1

**I won't lie. I actually really liked (loved) the episode. I figured, as much as I had hoped otherwise, that something bad was going to happen. It doesn't make it any less heartbreaking though.**

**Because I couldn't get this out of my head after watching the finale. Spoilers for the end. **

* * *

She was on her knees when the others got to her. She knew they were there, but she wasn't able to process anything other than the car burning in front of her.

A rather unpleasant noise was coming from somewhere and Kate was getting steadily more annoyed until she realized they were her sobs, and that she didn't know how to make them stop.

"Kate." Lanie murmured near her ear as she stroked her hand up her friend's back. "Kate, sweetie, you need to get up, ok?"

"No!" Kate cried, fighting off Lanie's grip. "I'm not leaving him."

"You don't know he was in there, Kate."

"Then where is he?" Kate exclaimed, finally ripping her gaze away from the car and turning to her friend. "Where is he?" She whispered.

"I don't know. But we'll find him."

Kate nodded dumbly and made no move to leave. She would stay right here until they found him, no matter what anyone else thought.

But apparently her friends didn't agree with that because she felt strong arms wrap around her and hoist her up off the ground. She immediately started thrashing, trying desperately to get free, until she heard Esposito speak softly into her ear.

"Come on, Kate. Let's go home."

Kate stopped fighting as Esposito put her in the back of his car and got in. As he drove away, Kate turned around and looked out the window with tears streaming down her face.

"He's my home." She whispered. "He's my home and he's gone."

* * *

Hours later, Esposito pulled up in front of the loft and shut off the car. He assumed Kate had fallen asleep since he hadn't heard another word from her, but when he opened the back door he was met with her puffy red eyes.

"Come on, Beckett. Let's get you inside and out of that dress."

Kate nodded as she stepped out of the car, grateful that he'd pulled up around the corner and no one would see her. The elevator ride up to the loft was silent and Esposito unlocked the door and ushered her inside.

"Ryan went back and let everyone know what happened. I imagine Martha and Alexis will return sometime tomorrow."

Kate nodded as she stood in the middle of the loft. "Do you know—was there a body?" She asked, almost not wanting to know the answer.

Esposito shook his head. "No body. We've put out word that he's missing and people are already on it. I'm staying on the couch and tomorrow we're going to the precinct to start looking ourselves."

"You don't have to stay." Kate murmured as she wrapped her arms around herself, wishing they belonged to someone else.

"I know. But I don't want you to be alone."

"The guest room is upstairs at the end of the hall. You'll get more sleep there where you won't hear me."

"Kate, I don't-"

"I know you don't, Espo. But I do. Please. You don't have to leave if you don't want, but please let me have some privacy."

Espo looked at her again and nodded slowly. "Alright, Chica."

"Thanks." Kate mumbled as she looked around the loft once more. Their wedding gifts were still piled up, since they had only planned on being in the Hamptons one night and knew they wouldn't get to open the gifts until after their honeymoon.

"I'm going to bed." Kate said softly as she turned and walked away. Esposito nodded as she walked away, wishing so desperately that he could give her a hug, something to let her know she wasn't alone. But he knew she was barely hanging on, and wouldn't appreciate breaking down in front of him. Instead, Esposito turned and walked up the stairs and into the guest room, despite knowing that he wouldn't get much sleep.

* * *

Kate decided not to walk through the office, assuming it would be too much, and nearly broke down when she saw his side of the bed was still slightly messy, just as it always was.

Her dress was becoming uncomfortable, but Kate couldn't bring herself to take it off. Instead, she grabbed one of his shirts and climbed onto the bed. She pulled his pillow into her chest and held it tightly as his scent wafted off the pillow and his shirt and surrounded her. She tried not to wish for someone to hold her tightly and tell her that she'd be ok, that it would all be ok. There was only one person she wanted to hear it from, and he was currently missing. Kate took another deep breath of his scent and felt her breath catch in her throat.

Finally, she let herself cry.

* * *

And in the morning, when Esposito found her sleeping in her wedding dress clutching his shirt and pillow as if they were the only things keeping her afloat, he woke her gently and left her to clean herself up and change clothes. They left the loft after writing a note to Martha and Alexis to let them know they had already started searching and would keep them up to date.

When they got to the precinct, Kate took a deep breath before stepping inside and composing herself the best she could. They had work to do, and she wasn't leaving until she had him back.

* * *

**It's short I know, but hopefully you still liked it.**

**Twitter: AllyLobster  
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**Reviews are wonderful. You should write one. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**And here we go again. I don't have much experience writing case fics, so bear with me. I'll try to update this at least once a week.**

* * *

"What have we got?" Kate asked as she made her way to her desk.

"Beckett," Ryan started but cut off when he saw the look she was giving him.

Before he could fill her in, however, Gates stepped out of her office. "Detective, a word."

Kate sighed as she dropped her bag off at her desk as she walked to the captain's office.

"Sir." Kate said as she walked inside and stood on the other side of the desk.

"I don't like the idea of you working this." Gates said after a moment. When she saw that the detective was about to protest, Gates held up her hand to stop her from speaking. "That being said, I know that if I was in your position, and it was my husband that was missing, I would tear the world apart until I found him."

"He's not my husband." Kate murmured, the realization hitting her again. "We didn't make it that far, Sir."

Gates gave her a small, sad smile and nodded. "That may be true, but I have no doubt that it changes the way you feel about him."

"Of course it doesn't." Kate replied instantly, suddenly feeling like she had to defend her relationship.

"Good. Now, tell me what you know."

Kate sighed. "Not much, Sir. It's more of what I suspect."

"And what's that, Detective?"

"I suspect he was taken by Jerry Tyson."

Gates eyebrows went up at that comment. "He's dead, Detective."

"Sir, with all due respect, the body was never found. And there was the case with Esposito and Lanie's look alikes."

Gates nodded. "You believe Tyson was behind that?"

Kate nodded. "Castle and I believed that he was working with Kelly Nieman, the plastic surgeon."

"And why do you believe he went after Mr. Castle?"

"Tyson has always had it out for Castle, ever since their first run in. I think it might have something to do with Castle being the one who figured out that he was 3XK in the beginning."

"If Tyson does have Mr. Castle, what do you think he'll do?"

"I don't really want to think about it, Sir." Kate said softly. "But if he's as smart as we think he is, then he's probably not in the city anymore. He may have even fled the state. And with a plastic surgeon on his side there's no telling what he looks like now."

"Alright. I want to be kept up to date with your findings."

"Understood, Sir."

Kate turned and walked out of the office and back in to the busy bullpen.

"Did you find anything, Ryan?"

"Yeah. This flash drive was not far from the car."

"So it was planted." Kate surmised.

"Seems like the most likely scenario." Ryan said. "But it's just a song, we can't figure out what it means."

"A song?" Kate asked, fearing the worst. "Which song?"

"Uh, Tori looked it up. Ah, 'We'll Meet Again' by Vera Lynn. Some old song."

Kate reached out for a chair and sank down as a whooshing noise sounded in her ears.

"Beckett, you ok?" Ryan asked as he noticed her reaction.

When Kate didn't respond, Ryan stood up and came to her side. He rested his hand on her shoulder as he crouched beside her.

"Kate, what does it mean?"

Kate took a deep breath before answering. "Last time-" Kate sighed and tried again. "Last time we ran in to Tyson, he left us a flash drive with that song on it."

Ryan stood up, surprise on his face. "You think this is Tyson?"

Kate nodded. "Now I'm positive. You know he's always had it out for Castle."

Ryan nodded. "Have you told anyone else what you think?"

"I told Gates. I'm sure Javi knows." Kate paused and looked around. "Where is he?"

"He said he had an errand to run."

Kate nodded but decided not to push for too much information. "Have you looked at and security footage?"

"There's not much, Beckett. It's not like this happened in the middle of a city. It was a highway. But we found Castle's car leaving the city and at a couple places along the highway."

"Did it tell you anything?"

"There was a black SUV a few cars behind him in the places along the highway, but we couldn't get a plate."

Kate sighed. "Were there any distinguishing marks? Maybe we can track it somewhere else?"

"Tori said there were a few scratches, so she's tracking it as much as she can, but it might not work out. It could just be that it was just another car heading out in the same direction."

Kate nodded. "Why do you think it's important? It could just be another car going out to the Hamptons. Lots of people have houses out there."

"We don't have a very good reason. It was always about the same distance behind Castle, but that isn't much either. I guess it was just that we had a feeling and decided to go with it."

"So it might be nothing." Kate said, her hope deflating.

"It might be. But it might also be just what we need."

Kate nodded and stood up. "Right. Let me know what you find. I'm gonna go talk with Tori."

Ryan nodded and watched as she walked off. Before she made it to the tech room, Kate's phone went off, and when she checked it she saw a text from Alexis, asking Kate to come to the loft.

Kate turned around immediately and made her way to the elevator and out of the precinct after giving Ryan a brief explanation. When she was at the loft, she found Alexis sitting in the study in Rick's chair, a picture of the three of them in her hands.

"Hi, Alexis. I'm sorry I didn't go back to the house last night."

Alexis looked up at her and smiled. "Ryan came back and told us that Espo had taken you back in to the city. I uh- after Ryan told us what happened, I didn't really expect you to come back. I don't mean that the way it sounds, I promise. Just that, if it was me, and my fiancé didn't make it to the altar, I wouldn't want to be around other people."

Kate nodded and smiled at Alexis. "Thank you for understanding. I know you're worried about him, but I just want you to know that we're already searching for him."

"Do you have any leads?"

Kate sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "We have a few small hunches we're tracking down."

Alexis nodded. "You know about his dad, right?"

Kate nodded. "I met him briefly. I know he helped get you home form Paris."

Alexis nodded. "Would you," She sighed and tried again. "Would you consider asking him for help?"

Kate sighed and sat on the edge of the desk. "I can't do that Alexis. Even if I knew how to get in contact with him, he's killed people and I'd be obligated to arrest him. I would love to get his help, you have to believe I will do whatever I can to get your dad back here. But I don't want to be trying to figure out if we're getting played while searching for him."

Alexis nodded. "I thought as much. I know he's not a great person, but I thought he might come to help if he hears about it in the news."

Kate smiled, "I have no doubt that he'll hear about it, and he might even come to us to try to help, but I hope he doesn't. I want Castle back, of course I do. But I don't want to work with that man ever again."

Alexis smiled. "You don't have to explain yourself, Kate. And I know you want my dad back home."

Kate smiled back and pulled her into a hug. As she released Alexis and turned to leave the office when the girl called her back.

"Kate?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you take care of yourself? I know you have a habit of working yourself ragged, which is admirable, but I don't think my dad would appreciate you finding him if you've lost half your body weight because you're not eating."

Kate smiled. "You're right. How about this, I promise to make it here for dinner every night. And if I don't then you can come to the precinct and force me to leave and get some food and sleep. That work for you?"

"I can work with that."

"Good. I'm gonna head back to the precinct, but I'll be back around 5. And I expect food waiting."

Alexis laughed and nodded. "That can be arranged."

Kate smiled back and gave her a hug before leaving the loft to get back to work.

* * *

When Rick opened his eyes, he immediately realized that his arms and legs were tied to a chair and his head hurt. He tugged at the restraints on his wrists to see what kind of wiggle room he was dealing with, and let out a groan when they rubbed against a raw patch of his skin. Apparently his captor had taken the time to rub his skin off.

"And the groom is awake." He heard a voice mock from the shadows.

"What do you want?" Rick asked. He would pay whatever ransom they wanted, so long as he got back to Kate.

The man chuckled and stepped forward into Rick's line of sight. "I want to make you hurt, Richard Castle. I want to make you and that fiancée of yours _ache_."

Rick stared at the man as realization dawned. The face wasn't the same, and the hair was blonde, but the underlying features belonged to none other than Jerry Tyson. Rick tried to keep it in, but a gasp escaped nonetheless.

"Ah, you recognize me, do you? I'll admit, I'm not too thrilled with the turn out, but Kelly did her best. Of course, she had to pay dearly for not keeping me satisfied."

"You killed her?" Rick asked.

"Very smart. It was time to be done with her, and I couldn't risk her telling the cops about me."

"She'll be looking for you." Rick said, trying to make him nervous. "Beckett and her team are already looking for me, and they'll find you."

Tyson laughed. "I'm sure they are looking. But we're not in Manhattan, Ricky. We're not even in New York. By the time your precious detective finds out where we are, you'll be dead. And when she comes looking, I'll kill her too."

Rick watched as Tyson threw his head back and laughed. One thing was clear to Rick as he watched the killer in front of him. He'd have to get out of this on his own. There was no way he'd allow Kate to walk in to a trap.

* * *

**Next chapter will be more with Rick and probably some more of the hunt for him as well. I have some idea of where I'm taking this, and what I want to have happen. Hopefully my muse will cooperate and let me write it.**

**Twitter: AllyLobster  
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**Reviews are wonderful. You should write one. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Welcome back, everyone. Hope you like this chapter. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, followed, and favorited this story. It's always nice to know that people are reading and enjoying my stories.**

* * *

Dinner that night was a quiet affair. True to her word, Kate had returned to the loft at a reasonable time, and Alexis had informed her that Chinese was already on the way and that Martha wouldn't be back until late, as she was working on a production at her studio.

"Do you mind if we watch something while we eat?" Alexis asked as she prepared her dinner while Kate did the same.

"Not at all." Kate replied as she tipped her head back and placed a noodle in her mouth. "What do you have in mind?"

Alexis shrugged. "Not sure yet. Probably something light hearted. Not really in the mood for death and stuff, you know?"

Kate gave her a small smile and nodded. "I know. Something with a happily ever after."

Alexis beamed at her, and it warmed Kate's heart when she saw it. They finished making their plates before heading in to the living room and sitting on the couch next to each other. Alexis scrolled through the Netflix list and settled on one she thought might be ok.

"Have you seen it before?"

Kate gave her a smile and nodded. "I had it playing in the background once and thought it was cute."

Alexis nodded and started the movie as they began eating. By the time it was over and Stich was allowed to remain with Lilo, Alexis could see that Kate had the beginnings of tears in her eyes, so she stood up and collected their plates and took them in to the kitchen. When she returned she gave Kate a hug before telling her she was going to go upstairs to sleep. Kate nodded and stood up, making her way to the office.

She didn't spare a glance to the desk or the makeshift murder board, instead she made her way straight to the bookshelf and pulled off _Heat Wave_ before making her way into the bedroom. Once inside she changed out of her clothes and pulled on one of his shirts and crawled in to bed to read. After a few chapters, it became too painful, so Kate stopped reading and clutched the book to her chest as she let the tears slip out. Her eyes began to flutter shut and her last conscious thought was that she hoped tonight would be relatively nightmare free.

* * *

"Wakey wakey," A voice said as Rick struggled to pull himself out of unconsciousness. For a split second he thought it was Kate, but then he remembered the events that had led him here, and his resolve to escape.

Before he could fully respond, he felt a hot flash of pain in the flesh of his bicep, and a hiss was pulled from his throat.

"Ah, now he's awake." Tyson said with a gleeful smile. "It's time to eat."

Castle was surprised until he saw the piece of bread and glass of water waiting for him. Upon seeing it, he was reminded that he didn't know the last time he had eaten, and in his eagerness to get to the food, he pulled against he rope, groaning as it rubbed into his sensitive skin.

"Ah ah ah." Tyson teased with a smirk on his face. "You don't think I'm gonna let you out, do you?"

Rick just glared at Tyson as he put the bread in Rick's hand. Castle thought about refusing to eat out of spite—and because he didn't know if Tyson had put anything in it—but ultimately he remembered his promise to get out before Kate could find him and walk in to a trap. Castle leaned forward and bit off a chunk of bread, not minding the humiliation that washed over him as Tyson smirked while Rick scarfed down the food. When the bread was gone, Tyson put the water in Rick's hand, laughing as the author sloshed some over the sides of the glass in an attempt to drink it quickly. Until he'd been given some food, Rick had no idea of how long he'd been trapped, or how long it had been since he'd eaten.

Tyson took the glass away from Castle with a smirk and turned away toward the door.

"Rest up, Ricky. Wouldn't want you to fall asleep while we play later."

Rick watched as Tyson left the room and closed the door behind him. The sound of the lock clicking in to place echoed through the small room and sent a shudder through Castle's body.

When he was sure he was alone, Rick got to work trying to loosen the ties around his wrists, glad for all the times he'd had his family tie him up for research. But no amount of practice could make the pain of rubbing his wrists raw go away.

* * *

"Hey, Beckett, we might have something!" Ryan calls as Kate enters the bullpen and Esposito waves her over to their desks.

"What is it?" Kate asks as she hurries over to Ryan to see what they found.

"That car we mentioned?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"It crossed the boarder out of New York a couple hours after our estimated time of the crash." Esposito replied.

Kate nodded. "Did we find anything to suggest that it might be significant? Or is it still speculation?"

"We've been tracking it where we can, and whoever is driving drove through the night. And Tory did some math with the images we got, and figured out they're driving well over the speed limit."

"So they're running. Did we get a picture of the driver or passenger? Do we know if they're still driving?"

Ryan shook his head and looked disappointed with himself, as if it was his fault they hadn't found anything.

"So what are we basing this on?" Kate asked. "How do we know this means anything at all? He could be somewhere else and we're tracking this car!"

"Kate, calm down." Esposito said. "We ran the plates and they came back stolen. We're not going off nothing. We found someone who saw both cars going toward the Hamptons, and he said that the driver of the SUV was a white male with dark hair and that he never seemed to take his eyes off Castle's car."

"That still doesn't mean anything. Lots of people are white with dark hair." Kate rationalized.

Esposito nodded. "We know it's not much, but it's all we've got so far."

Kate sighed and nodded. "I know. Thank you for working so hard, guys. I know you want him back just as much as I do."

Ryan smiled at her. "We're with you in this, Kate."

Esposito nodded. "Yeah. Castle's one of us now. We'll bring him home."

Kate gave them a small smile and tried not to let the tears that had suddenly appeared in her eyes fall down her cheeks. But inevitably a few escaped and trickled down her face. She swiped them away before focusing on the boys in front of her.  
"Are you guys looking in to Tyson?"

Ryan and Esposito nodded. "We are, but there isn't much. He all but disappeared after the bridge incident."

"And since we know, or at least suspect, that Nieman is with him, there's really no way to know what he looks like now. Tory's looking for facial recognition matches and we're circulating his old photo to see if anyone saw him after the bridge."

"It's slow going though. We don't have much in his financials, and it doesn't look like he owns property anywhere."

"Does he have any family?" Kate asked.

Ryan shook his head. "Parents are dead, no siblings. We can't find any living relatives who might be of help, so we're looking in to deceased family members to see if he was left anything that might help us out."

"Good. Let me know when you find anything."

"Got it." Ryan and Esposito replied and got back to work.

Kate made her way to her desk and sat down. While she waited for her computer to start up she pulled out her phone and opened her messages, intending to text Alexis an idea for dinner. When she opened up the previous messages between the two of them, she came across the picture Alexis had taken when she came home late one night and found her dad and his fiancée curled up asleep on the couch. Kate had her head resting on Castle's chest and his arms were wrapped tightly around her.

The picture shocked Kate and she sat staring at the image as she remembered the events that had led to them sleeping on the couch.

_"Kate, do we really have to watch this?" Castle asked as he looked at the DVD case._

_"Yes. It's my night to pick the movie. I want to watch this one."_

_Castle sighed but didn't comment again as he set up the DVD to play. He came back to the couch and laid down, opening his arms for Kate. She smiled and arranged herself so that her body was laid out over his with her head on his chest. _

_"I still can't believe you're making me watch this movie." Castle grumbled after a few minutes._

_"Keep up the complaining and you'll be sleeping out here."_

_"I love this movie." _

_Kate laughed and leaned up to kiss him gently. "That's better."_

A crash from the break room jolted Kate out of her reverie and she looked up to a sheepish Ryan waving her off as she stood up to investigate. She gave him a look but didn't move again.

She finally sent off her text to Alexis and turned back to her computer and got to work.

* * *

Castle knew he didn't have long to work on the ties, so he was working as fast as he could, but he still felt like he wasn't going to make it. He knew that he couldn't completely remove the bonds or he'd really be in trouble. So he focused on loosening them enough to be able to get his hands out without alerting Tyson to the fact that he was working on escaping.

He was continuously rubbing his wrists raw with each movement, but it was a small price to pay for the potential of keeping Kate away from the madman intent on ruining their lives. He knew his feet would have to wait, since he couldn't get to his feet just yet without throwing off his whole plan.

He was working on his left wrist when he heard footsteps approaching the door. Panic surged through him and he tugged harder, muffling his groans of pain by biting his lip. He gave one last tug just as he heard the door unlock.

* * *

**There you have it. Hope you enjoyed!**

**Twitter: AllyLobster  
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**Reviews are wonderful. You should write one :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**And we're back! To the guest reviewer who had some questions about things I've written, please just trust me. I have a plan for where I'm going, and I have a reason for writing what I did.**

* * *

"How are you holding up, Kate?" Ryan asked, taking a break from his work to come over to her desk, carefully avoiding sitting in Castle's chair.

Kate sighed and looked up at him with a small smile. "I'm handling it."

Ryan nodded in understanding. "And Alexis and Martha? Are they doing ok?"

Kate shrugged. "As well as can be expected. Martha is working on a show."

Ryan raised a skeptical eyebrow, no doubt confused by Martha's actions.

"She said it's her way of coping, and really, it's not so different from what I'm doing. Throwing ourselves into our work to try to deal with him not being here. But she calls often to check in and see where we're standing."

"And Alexis is doing ok?"

Kate sighed and slowly shook her head. "It's too much for her. I know, to some extent what she's going through, but at least she has some hope that he'll come home. But after what happened in Paris, even though it was a year ago, I can tell it's taking a toll. She's doing a lot of cooking and baking, but I know she's struggling."

Ryan nodded. "I understand. Let me know if there's anything Jenny or I can do to help."

Kate smiled up and him. "Thanks, Ryan. And tell Jenny I said thank you too."

"Beckett!" Esposito called pulling her from her chat with Ryan. "We got something!"

Kate's heart started beating faster as she looked up from her computer and to her partners. She took a deep breath before responding.

"What did you find?"

"That SUV we've been tracking? Cameras show it getting off the interstate in Chicago."

"So it's not our guy?" Kate asked, her heart dropping.

Ryan shook his head. "That's not what we're saying. The car was stolen not far from the Hamptons. And we had Tory dig _deep_ into Tyson and his family, and we found something that gives us some hope."

"What?"

"There's an old family home on his mom's side, and that's why it was difficult for us to find it."

"Where?"

"Naperville, Illinois. Not too far from Chicago, where we saw the car get off the interstate."

"Are we sending a team out there? When are we leaving?"

"Slow down, Kate." Esposito cautioned. "We know you want to get to him, of course we do, but we need to plan this out and be careful. We can't go running into the house without knowing what we're getting in to."

Kate sighed and sat down as she nodded. "No, you're right. I know. Sorry."

"It's ok, Kate. We just have to be careful with this. We have to think everything through."

Kate nodded. "Right. We will. I'm going to go update Gates."

The boys nod and watch as their boss and friend walks away, unable to tell if the news helped her outlook on the entire situation or hurt it.

Kate knocks twice on Gates' door before opening it slightly.

"Sir?" She asks, just barely stepping in.

"Detective. What have you found?"

Kate took a deep breath to prepare herself for rehashing the information, knowing she wouldn't be able to act on any information without her captains permission, and there is a chance Gates won't let her do anything until Castle has been recovered and is in a hospital. As soon as that thought enters her mind—and all the horrifying images of Castle bruised and broken and lying unconscious in a hospital bed that accompany it—Kate forces them from her mind and faces her boss, hoping she can get through this.

"We found that Tyson has inherited some property from his mother's side of the family." She begins, watching as Gates' eyebrows shoot up at Tyson's name, no doubt she had been under the assumption that he was dead.

"Tyson is dead, detective. Mr. Castle shot him."

Kate sighed and shook her head. "Sir, with all due respect, that's not quite true. Castle did shoot him, but the body was never found. And the case with Dr. Parish's and Detective Esposito's look alikes was very similar to Tyson's M.O.

"Sir, Tyson has always been after Castle, ever since he figured out that he was 3XK. Tyson has made it his mission to punish Castle for figuring it out, and this is just another step in that process. I also believe that because everyone else on this team has been targeted by Tyson, this is also directed at me, since I have not been directly victimized. At least not until this all happened. And then there's the matter of the files for the 3XK cases, both paper and electronic, going missing just after that case."

Gates looked at her for a moment before nodding. "Alright, assuming he's not dead, how do you know he is the one behind this. It could be a deranged fan of Mr. Castle's."

Kate immediately began shaking her head. "With all due respect, Sir, that's not a real possibility. I thought so at first—hoped even—but Castle hadn't said anything about particularly disturbing fan mail, and there has been nothing strange delivered to the loft like might be expected if this was a fan."

"Alright. But back to the question then, how do you know it's Tyson?"

Kate sighed. "We don't have much to go on, really. Except for the grudge Tyson holds against Rick. But cameras not far from where Rick's car went off the road show a black SUV tailing him. Tory has been tracking the SUV as best she can, and just found that it exited the interstate in Illinois."

"And I'm assuming the car was stolen?"

Kate nodded. "Espo had her run the plates as soon as she started following the car."

"You said he had a home he'd inherited?"

Kate nodded again. "Yes. It's from his mother's side of the family, so it was a little more difficult to trace. It seems it was passed to daughters, but Tyson was an only child, so he got it. Because of that though, the name the property was purchased under was different than Tyson's and his mother's, so it took some digging to find."

"And where is the property?"

"In Naperville, about thirty to forty-five minutes outside Chicago."

Gates sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "And let me guess, you'd like permission to go out there and get Mr. Castle back. Am I right?"

Kate smiled sheepishly. "I know I can't go by myself, Sir. But yes, I would like to be allowed to go with the team to retrieve him."

"I figured as much. We'll have to call in the FBI since he was taken over state lines."

"So they'll get to control this?" Kate asked, worry spiking in her veins.

"I'm sorry, detective, but those are the rules. I will put in a call and get a team out here as soon as possible for you to brief." Gates' eyes softened and her tone became friendlier as she looked at the woman in front of her. "I know you want to be in control of this, Kate. But I can't risk something going wrong and having backlash against you or the department because someone says you were too close. I'll ask, and I'm sure you will demand, to be kept in the loop, but this must be done."

Kate sighed as defeat seeped in to her muscles. "I understand, Sir."

"Good. I'll call now, and hopefully we can get someone here by tomorrow."

Kate gave one last nod before turning and making her way out of the office. "Sir, we're not going to get much more done today."

"You may leave, detective."

"Thank you, Sir." Kate replied with a ghost of a smile as she stepped out of the office and closed the door. She made her way over to her desk and began gathering her things while her computer shut down.

"Heading out for the night?" Ryan asked as he and Esposito walked over to her.

Kate nodded as she tugged on her leather coat, trying to ignore the pain that surged through her heart that Castle wasn't there to help her in to it.

"You guys should leave too." She told the detectives, since there was no reason for them to stay when there wasn't much they could do now but wait.

"Lanie wants to see you." Esposito said by way of reply. "Wants to make sure you're doing ok."

Kate cracked a small smile and nodded. "I'll stop by and see her then. Seriously, you two should go home. I'll see you bright and early tomorrow. We'll hopefully have feds to bring up to speed."

Ryan cracked a grin as Esposito chuckled. "Bet you never thought you'd say that."

"First time for everything." Kate replied before turning and walking away to the elevator. The boys watched as the elevator doors closed in front of Kate and took her away. When they were shut Ryan and Esposito turned to each other.

"Don't know about you, but I'm staying until we find something else." Esposito declared.

Ryan nodded. "Already told Jenny I was going to be late tonight, if I came back at all. She told me to find Castle and end this."

With that, both detectives turned and went to their desks, determined to find something new by morning.

* * *

When Kate Beckett stepped in to the morgue, the smell of death assaulted her, and she gagged slightly before regaining control over herself.

Lanie caught sight of her before she could fully recover however, and hurried to finish sewing up the cadaver on the table in front of her before putting the man back in storage.

When she was done and had washed her hands thoroughly, she made her way to her best friend and pulled her into a tight hug.

"How you holding up?"

Kate let out a choked laugh. "Not great. I've been crying most of the time I'm not at work."

Lanie nodded sympathetically. "And Alexis and Martha?"

"Coping, in their own ways. Martha's thrown herself in to a new production. Can't really fault her for it though, I'm throwing myself into work as well. Alexis is cooking."

"I've got just a few more things to finish and then we can get dinner, if you're up for it?"

"That would be nice. I'll text Alexis and let her know while you finish up."

Lanie nodded and the two women stepped more fully into the morgue. Instantly, Kate was hit with a wave of nausea that sent her running to the trash where she vomited what little food she'd remembered to eat that day.

"You ok, honey?" Lanie asked when Kate had recovered somewhat.

"Fine." Kate said as she took the water Lanie had handed to her. "Just haven't been feeling great lately. I'm always tired, but I can't let myself fall asleep."

Lanie nodded, as she looked her friend over with a critical eye. "Is it a constant thing, this nausea?"

Kate glared at her friend. "Lanie, I'm fine. It's just stress from all this."

"When was your last period, Kate?"

"No." Kate answered, instantly knowing where Lanie was going with her questions.

"Kate,"

"No, Lanie." Kate choked out as images of a happy little baby boy with Castle's eyes flood her mind. A baby boy who may never meet his father, if Kate couldn't find a way to get him back.

"Are you completely sure?" Lanie asked, not wanting to hurt her friend any more than she was already hurting.

"Yes?" Kate asked, but it was more question than anything else. "I've never really had a set cycle. Sometimes I don't get it. Sometimes it's only a couple weeks between."

Lanie turned and grabbed a specimen jar and held it out to Kate. "Go in there," she pointed to the bathroom. "I can run the test here."

Kate reached out with a shaking hand and took the jar from Lanie before turning and going in to the bathroom.

When she returned Lanie took it without comment and went in to the lab to run the test for her.

"Shouldn't be too long." Lanie said as she came back in to the room and found Kate sitting in a chair.

"I can't be pregnant, Lanie. I can't be. Not right now."

"I know it's hard, Kate. But if you are…"

"I can't do this without him!" Kate cried, new tears leaking out of her eyes and down her cheeks.

Lanie placed a gentle hand on her knee and squeezed. "You might not have to. You might be right and it might just be stress. And if you're not pregnant, then you'll still be able to have kids once you find Castle and guys decide you're ready."

Kate took a shaky breath and nodded as Lanie stood up to go get the test results. Various scenarios began going through Kate's mind as she waited for her friend to return, and the worst part was that Kate didn't know which she wanted more. To have a part of Castle growing in her if the unthinkable happened and they didn't find him in time, or to find out that she didn't, and might never get the chance. They'd talked about kids briefly, and always in passing, but she knew they both wanted them. The only question was whether or not he'd still want any after this fiasco was over.

"You ready?" Lanie asked, walking back to Kate's side with a piece of paper. "I haven't looked, figured you should know first.

Kate nodded and took the paper. She flipped it over and after a moment to find what she was looking for, relief and a bit of sadness washed through her.

"Negative." She said softly.

* * *

**That's it for this chapter. I know you guys want to know what's going on with Castle, but we'll get back to him next chapter. I've got a plan for where all this is going, and I'm still adding things as I see fit. Thanks to Jess for reminding me that Naperville is the exact kind of place I have in mind for Tyson's house.**

**Twitter: AllyLobster  
Tumblr: AllyLobster**

**Feel free to leave a review if you're so inclined. If not, no problem, and thanks for reading anyway! :)**


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